McCardell

The McCardell name has been associated with Hood College since its founding in 1893, with A.C. McCardell, one of the five founders of the College.

For more than 108 years, members of the McCardell family have supported Hood in numerous ways, from presenting scholarships and awards to students and faculty, to special gifts for the College’s Centennial celebration in 1992-1993.

Recently, Robert C. McCardell of Frederick, the grandson of A.C. McCardell, presented a gift to Hood to endow the Hood College Board of Associates Professional Development Grants program in honor of his family’s long association with the College. The McCardell Professional Development Grants provide financial support to faculty and staff for professional development, research, or curriculum development. Since the beginning, with the awarding of $5,600 to six faculty members in 1980, this respected, well-established program has been instrumental in supporting the excellence of Hood’s faculty and staff. To date, more than $379,000 has been awarded for 220 grants.

Robert C. McCardell

A banker and civic leader, Robert C. McCardell is now retired, having worked for 35 years as a national bank examiner with the Comptroller of the Currency, U.S. Treasury Department. He attended Washington and Lee University and served with the U.S. Navy from 1942 to 1945.

In 1990, he was elected to the Hood College Board of Associates and was awarded honorary status upon his retirement in 1999. During the College’s Centennial celebration, he supported various programs and provided historical background as the College documented its 100-year history. A lifelong resident of Frederick, he lives in the family home on Rockwell Terrace.

McCardell Family

In 1893, Robert C. McCardell’s grandfather, Adrian Ceolfrid McCardell, was one of the five founders of The Women’s College of Frederick, now known as Hood College. For 20 years, he was a member of the Board of Directors and treasurer of the College’s endowment fund. A businessman and banker, he established a retail and wholesale confectionery in downtown Frederick, and served as president of Frederick County National Bank. He and his wife, Alforetta Stonebaker McCardell, had seven children, one of whom was Robert’s father, Adrian LeRoy McCardell.

Adrian LeRoy McCardell, a lifelong resident of Frederick, also served as president of Frederick County National Bank and managed the family confectionery business after the death of his father. In 1908, he was one of several businessmen who purchased, developed and built homes on a tract of land known as Rockwell Terrace, just blocks from the future Hood campus. He and his wife, Eleanor Clingan McCardell, had four children: the late Claire McCardell; Adrian L McCardell Jr., of Baltimore, Md., former chairman of the board and chief executive officer, First National Bank of Maryland; Robert; and John Malcolm McCardell of Hagerstown, Md., former president of Potomac Edison Company.

Claire McCardell, a 1927 alumna of Hood, was one of the nation’s most influential fashion designers and creator of the “American look.” She attended Hood for two years before enrolling at the Parsons School of Design in New York City.

McCardell Scholarships

In 1994, Robert McCardell and his brother, Adrian L. McCardell Jr., established the McCardell Family Scholarship Fund at The Community Foundation of Frederick County. Monies from this fund are awarded to Frederick County residents attending Hood College and Washington and Lee University.

McCardell Hood Alumnae

Several members of the family are graduates of Hood: Nellie McCardell was in the first graduating class of the College in 1897, Pauline McCardell graduated in 1906, and Phyllis Green McCardell of Baltimore, Md., graduated in 1945.

Hood Mission

Hood College prepares students to excel in meeting the personal, professional and global challenges of the future. Hood is committed to the integration of the liberal arts, the professions and technology, to the exploration of values, a sense of community and to the preparation of students for lives of responsibility, leadership and service.